Our power appetite is bigger than our power supply. The "renewable transition" isn't working. We are losing large baseload power generators and not replacing them and we're adding too much load. Our electric system is not sustainable. It's a simple math equation.
Back in January I was contacted by a reporter from the Washington Post who had been writing about the proliferation of data centers in Northern Virginia and wanted to investigate how Virginia's out-of-control building was impacting people in surrounding states. Virginia's data center problem is no longer just Virginia's problem. It has now spread to the entire 14 state PJM Interconnection region.
Here's his story that began back in January.
For us, the story began last summer when we found out about PJM's transmission plan for multiple new high-voltage transmission lines to import more power to data center alley. We followed it through PJM's planning process and though we protested and asked for other solutions, PJM approved three new 500kV transmission lines and a whole bunch of smaller segments and substations. During PJM's TEAC meetings, I remarked several times that the new transmission was feeding from existing legacy coal plants in West Virginia and was actually increasing emissions and in no way helping the "renewable transition." Every time I mentioned it, PJM was quick to claim that the new electric supply would come from "all resources, including renewables." PJM seemed rather sensitive about the reality of its plan and vehemently denied it. Deny this article, PJM. It's all there in living color.
Virginia has renewable energy laws that prohibit the building of new fossil fuel generation (gas, coal). But yet Virginia is building an incredible amount of new data centers that use outrageous amounts of power that is simply not available on the current system. Virginia's renewable energy plan is a virtue signaling lie. Instead of building the electric generation it needs, Virginia intends to IMPORT electricity from surrounding states, even coal-fired power from West Virginia. ESPECIALLY coal-fired power from West Virginia. How is Virginia's "renewable energy" law cleaning up the environment? It's not. It's making the situation worse.
After Tony started working on this story for the Washington Post, FirstEnergy made an announcement that bolstered what I had been saying... PJM's transmission plan is increasing the production of coal-fired electricity in West Virginia. FirstEnergy announced it was abandoning its goal to decrease its carbon emissions by 2030 by throttling back its Ft. Martin and Harrison coal-fired power plants near Morgantown. FirstEnergy said it was necessary to abandon that goal because those resources were necessary to provide reliability in PJM. In other words, FirstEnergy will throttle up its electricity production at those plants in order to provide supply to PJM's new transmission line that begins at the nearby 502 Junction substation and ends at No. Va.'s data center alley in Loudoun County. Ft. Martin and Harrison directly connect to 502 Junction via dedicated 500kV transmission lines. Also connecting directly to 502 Junction is the Longview coal-fired power plant in Morgantown and AEP's Mitchell coal-fired power plant in West Virginia's northern panhandle. It's more than 5,000 MW of hot and dirty coal-fired electricity and if the line is constructed it's heading right for Northern Virginia, along with some smog and air pollution. Data Centers are filthy! And PJM is a filthy liar.
Along the way to No. Va., PJM's new coal-by-wire extension cord will expand existing transmission rights-of-way closer to homes, schools, parks and businesses. Expanding existing easements makes it impossible for the utility to avoid sensitive things like they could if they were siting a new corridor. Anyone living along the existing corridor, like the Gee family, is going to be steamrolled right over.
The "using existing rights-of-way" propaganda is another huge PJM lie I brought up over and over during TEAC meetings. It's a new easement all the way because it cannot be constructed within the existing corridor.
And guess what? Along with new pollution and new land acquisition using eminent domain, West Virginians will PAY for this destruction/construction in higher electric bills, along with every other ratepayer in the PJM region.
And we get NOTHING for our trouble. Virginia gets new tax revenue building things they can't power while crowing about how "clean" Virginia is, and the rest of us get the impacts and the bill. We're NOT your sacrifice zone.
Washington Post reporter Tony Olivo did a fantastic job investigating and reporting on this story. He spent a day with us here in Jefferson County and drove from one end of the county to the other meeting people, and Washington Post photographer Sal got lots of photos and drone footage along the way. Then these two guys drove all the way out to 502 Junction and Morgantown to do the same there. They spent an enormous amount of time on this story and it shows.
One of my favorite images in the story is the new solar "farm" near Charles Town taken from the drone. It shows how the company building it scraped off all the vegetation and top soil and left nothing but bare earth and erosion that is killing the Shenandoah River. Clean energy ain't so clean, is it?
And let's talk about that "clean energy", shall we? Wind and solar cannot create the amount of electricity needed for new data centers, even if they cover Virginia with turbines and panels from end to end. The data centers need a plentiful and reliable supply they can only get from fossil fuels. A few solar panels on the roof of the data center won't do a thing to cure this problem. It may only keep the lights on in the restroom... during the day. Renewables cannot power our energy intensive society. We're not replacing the generation we're shutting down in the name of carbon reduction, and there's no chance that we can ever catch up at this point. Data centers are too big a drain and Virginia can't stop building them.
If you have any doubts, check out the Generation Fuel Mix pie chart on PJM's website at any time. Renewables provide only a tiny slice of PJM's power supply and it will never change as long as we keep increasing power load with new data centers.
Bravo to Washington Post for exposing Virginia's dirty data center reality!
And let's get to work, Jefferson County. We've got a power line to stop!
Back in January I was contacted by a reporter from the Washington Post who had been writing about the proliferation of data centers in Northern Virginia and wanted to investigate how Virginia's out-of-control building was impacting people in surrounding states. Virginia's data center problem is no longer just Virginia's problem. It has now spread to the entire 14 state PJM Interconnection region.
Here's his story that began back in January.
For us, the story began last summer when we found out about PJM's transmission plan for multiple new high-voltage transmission lines to import more power to data center alley. We followed it through PJM's planning process and though we protested and asked for other solutions, PJM approved three new 500kV transmission lines and a whole bunch of smaller segments and substations. During PJM's TEAC meetings, I remarked several times that the new transmission was feeding from existing legacy coal plants in West Virginia and was actually increasing emissions and in no way helping the "renewable transition." Every time I mentioned it, PJM was quick to claim that the new electric supply would come from "all resources, including renewables." PJM seemed rather sensitive about the reality of its plan and vehemently denied it. Deny this article, PJM. It's all there in living color.
Virginia has renewable energy laws that prohibit the building of new fossil fuel generation (gas, coal). But yet Virginia is building an incredible amount of new data centers that use outrageous amounts of power that is simply not available on the current system. Virginia's renewable energy plan is a virtue signaling lie. Instead of building the electric generation it needs, Virginia intends to IMPORT electricity from surrounding states, even coal-fired power from West Virginia. ESPECIALLY coal-fired power from West Virginia. How is Virginia's "renewable energy" law cleaning up the environment? It's not. It's making the situation worse.
After Tony started working on this story for the Washington Post, FirstEnergy made an announcement that bolstered what I had been saying... PJM's transmission plan is increasing the production of coal-fired electricity in West Virginia. FirstEnergy announced it was abandoning its goal to decrease its carbon emissions by 2030 by throttling back its Ft. Martin and Harrison coal-fired power plants near Morgantown. FirstEnergy said it was necessary to abandon that goal because those resources were necessary to provide reliability in PJM. In other words, FirstEnergy will throttle up its electricity production at those plants in order to provide supply to PJM's new transmission line that begins at the nearby 502 Junction substation and ends at No. Va.'s data center alley in Loudoun County. Ft. Martin and Harrison directly connect to 502 Junction via dedicated 500kV transmission lines. Also connecting directly to 502 Junction is the Longview coal-fired power plant in Morgantown and AEP's Mitchell coal-fired power plant in West Virginia's northern panhandle. It's more than 5,000 MW of hot and dirty coal-fired electricity and if the line is constructed it's heading right for Northern Virginia, along with some smog and air pollution. Data Centers are filthy! And PJM is a filthy liar.
Along the way to No. Va., PJM's new coal-by-wire extension cord will expand existing transmission rights-of-way closer to homes, schools, parks and businesses. Expanding existing easements makes it impossible for the utility to avoid sensitive things like they could if they were siting a new corridor. Anyone living along the existing corridor, like the Gee family, is going to be steamrolled right over.
The "using existing rights-of-way" propaganda is another huge PJM lie I brought up over and over during TEAC meetings. It's a new easement all the way because it cannot be constructed within the existing corridor.
And guess what? Along with new pollution and new land acquisition using eminent domain, West Virginians will PAY for this destruction/construction in higher electric bills, along with every other ratepayer in the PJM region.
And we get NOTHING for our trouble. Virginia gets new tax revenue building things they can't power while crowing about how "clean" Virginia is, and the rest of us get the impacts and the bill. We're NOT your sacrifice zone.
Washington Post reporter Tony Olivo did a fantastic job investigating and reporting on this story. He spent a day with us here in Jefferson County and drove from one end of the county to the other meeting people, and Washington Post photographer Sal got lots of photos and drone footage along the way. Then these two guys drove all the way out to 502 Junction and Morgantown to do the same there. They spent an enormous amount of time on this story and it shows.
One of my favorite images in the story is the new solar "farm" near Charles Town taken from the drone. It shows how the company building it scraped off all the vegetation and top soil and left nothing but bare earth and erosion that is killing the Shenandoah River. Clean energy ain't so clean, is it?
And let's talk about that "clean energy", shall we? Wind and solar cannot create the amount of electricity needed for new data centers, even if they cover Virginia with turbines and panels from end to end. The data centers need a plentiful and reliable supply they can only get from fossil fuels. A few solar panels on the roof of the data center won't do a thing to cure this problem. It may only keep the lights on in the restroom... during the day. Renewables cannot power our energy intensive society. We're not replacing the generation we're shutting down in the name of carbon reduction, and there's no chance that we can ever catch up at this point. Data centers are too big a drain and Virginia can't stop building them.
If you have any doubts, check out the Generation Fuel Mix pie chart on PJM's website at any time. Renewables provide only a tiny slice of PJM's power supply and it will never change as long as we keep increasing power load with new data centers.
Bravo to Washington Post for exposing Virginia's dirty data center reality!
And let's get to work, Jefferson County. We've got a power line to stop!
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